I am successfully using Vonage for both my DSR6000 and my HDVR2. I'm making daily TiVo calls from both, as well as the DirecTV calls so I can order PPV via remote, and subscribe to Sports. Getting it to work took a lot of research and most of the pieces came from other posts on TiVoCommunity. I just wanted to share my complete solution in one place (and document it myself in case I ever need to re-do it.)

Here is what my Voip Phone Line setup looks like:

- Cable Modem internet connection connected to the Cable modem
- Cable Modem connected to Cable/DSL router (I've successfully used both Linksys and NetGear)
- LAN port on router connected to the Vonage ATA (Cisco 186)
- ATA connected to the base unit of an RCA "Wireless Modem Jack"
(uses power lines to create a phone jack from a power outlet -
be sure to get one that specifies it is for modems)
- Phone connected to Output on RCA base unit
- RCA Wireless Modem Jack remote units behind each TV

(Some people have had success connecting the ATA to the home phone wiring, but I never tied since
I don't have phone jacks behind my TVs anyway)

For the DSR6000:

This one is easy, just connect the phone jack on the back of the UNIT to the phone jack. Then go into:

Set the Dial Prefix to ",#019" without the quotes. This tells the modem to use 19.9 kbps
(slow enough to work over Voip)

Make a test call..... occasionall the call will fail for me, but it works about 9 times out of 10.

For the HDVR2:

This is more complex because the modem in the HDVR2 does not support the ,#019 prefix so you cannot slow it down below 56k. To make it work consistantly, you will need to use an external modem and a custom cable.

I picked up a 28.8 modem on e-bay for about $10.

To connect to the modem you will need to use the serial port on the back of the DirecTiVo - it looks like a headphone jack. You can use the "TiVo Serial Cable" and a DB9 to DB25 adapter for this, but I don't recommend it because this will require you to pre-program your modem using a computer in order to get it to work. I prefer to make a custom cable and use 2 cross connects to force the modem into the proper mode. The wiring chart is attached.

To make my cable, I cut and stipped the cord from an old pair of headphones and crimped on an RJ45 connector using the first 3 pins on the RJ45. Then I picked up an RJ45 to DB25 adapter and did my custom pinouts, including the cross-connects. I found this to be easier than trying to wire the stereo plug directly to the DB25.

Connect the serial port to the modem, and the modem to the phone jack. Then go into:

Set the Dial Prefix to ",#319" without the quotes. This tells the reciver to use the external modem.

Make a test call..... occasionall the call will fail for me, but it works about 9 times out of 10.

Now, to keep ordering PPV by remote working on the HDVR2, you also have to use a separate connection (turns out that the HDVR2 has 2 modems in it - one for Tivo and the other for DirecTV) The DirecTV one does not support using an external modem, but it only runs at 9600 baud so it will work over Voip without a problem. To set it up, use a phone jack splitter to make 2 wall jacks available. Connect the external modem to one, and the built-in modem port to the other. The TiVo calls will use the external modem, and the DirecTV calls will use the internal one.

Kudos to everyone that has posted their own solutions in this forum and the Underground forum!!!

I have all the phone jacks in my house wired for Vonage. I assume the wireless modem adapter is not necessary if I run a phone cord to a nearby jack (either from the DSR6000 or external 28.8 modem)? Let me know if I am missing something!

BTW--Which model is dtv sending out with the ffdvr deal? I called and asked, but they don't know which model will go out.

Question, Can I use the code ",#019"-- adding the comma for the directivo unit to reduce the modem speed. I am able to do a test call with that code entered but I have not gotten my Vonage adapter yet to test it.

Are the modem pinouts and cross-connects fairly standard from modem to modem?

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally posted by RedGrey For the HDVR2:

This is more complex because the modem in the HDVR2 does not support the ,#019 prefix so you cannot slow it down below 56k. To make it work consistantly, you will need to use an external modem and a custom cable.

I picked up a 28.8 modem on e-bay for about $10.

To connect to the modem you will need to use the serial port on the back of the DirecTiVo - it looks like a headphone jack. You can use the "TiVo Serial Cable" and a DB9 to DB25 adapter for this, but I don't recommend it because this will require you to pre-program your modem using a computer in order to get it to work. I prefer to make a custom cable and use 2 cross connects to force the modem into the proper mode. The wiring chart is attached.

To make my cable, I cut and stipped the cord from an old pair of headphones and crimped on an RJ45 connector using the first 3 pins on the RJ45. Then I picked up an RJ45 to DB25 adapter and did my custom pinouts, including the cross-connects. I found this to be easier than trying to wire the stereo plug directly to the DB25.

Connect the serial port to the modem, and the modem to the phone jack. Then go into:

Set the Dial Prefix to ",#319" without the quotes. This tells the reciver to use the external modem.

Make a test call..... occasionall the call will fail for me, but it works about 9 times out of 10.

Now, to keep ordering PPV by remote working on the HDVR2, you also have to use a separate connection (turns out that the HDVR2 has 2 modems in it - one for Tivo and the other for DirecTV) The DirecTV one does not support using an external modem, but it only runs at 9600 baud so it will work over Voip without a problem. To set it up, use a phone jack splitter to make 2 wall jacks available. Connect the external modem to one, and the built-in modem port to the other. The TiVo calls will use the external modem, and the DirecTV calls will use the internal one.[/B]

Has anyone checked with DTV customer service to see if their units have truly completed calls using Vonnage?

No need to check. I have ordered a couple PPV's via remote on my T-60 since I've gotten Vonage. They both have shown up on my bills the day I start seeing the 888 number being dialed in my Vonage call screen.

Thus the T-60 at least connects to DirecTV just fine to report PPV's and such. Also I have NFL ST and have had no problems with it all season.

I don't really believe that having Sunday Ticket = having any practical need for a phone line. I'm sure your unit tries to call in once every month regardless of whether you've ordered PPV on the card or have a sports sub... It appears the only thing that causes trouble is having too many PPVs on the card or having a cranky call with DirecTV's CSRs...

I've managed to get this working... sorta... and I wanted to tell people my experience with it, and maybe see if anyone has any advice.

I have an HDVR2, so my only solution is to use the external modem as described. I bought a one from ebay (28.8 US Robotics FAX modem). Tested the modem on a PC first. It worked just fine. I built the 1/8" headphone to DB25 cable that he described, basically exactly the same as he described. I happened to have a RJ45 to DB25 dongle. I wired it exactly as described, carefully noting which DB25 pins mapped to which RJ45 pins. I cut off 4 of the unused pins inside the DB25 dongle, stripped the ends and wrapped them together to make the cross connects on pins 4&5 and 6&20. I took an unused CAT5 cable and cut off about 12" on one end. I then took the wires on the CAT5 cable that were associated with the DB25 pins 2, 3, & 7 and stripped them.

At first I used an old pair of headphones as RedGrey did. But for some reason I couldn't get this to work. The headphones worked before I cut off the end, but as soon as I did, I'd lose continuity. The headphone cables, as one would expect, had a signal and a ground cable within them. The problem seemed to be that they were in too close proximity to each other and when I cut the cable it was just way too easy for them to contact each other. So I went to RatShack and bought one of their unwired connectors. I made sure to get the Rat Shack folks carefully point out to me which of the three leads on these things were tip, ring and base. I then soldered my stripped cat5 wires to each of those ends, and Voila. The DTiVo was able to make as many successful test calls as I wanted.

But! That's not the end of the story.

Right now it appears that my DTiVo is trying to download 3.1.1b upgrade. And this is a problem. When I use vonage, I occasionally get echos on the line. The modem does NOT like that. It starts to download, and then invariably, the RX light will eventually stop blinking. Then eventually, the modem will hangup the phone (probably initiated from the other end) and then eventually the DTiVo will give a status of "Failed. Call interrupted". Sometimes I can get the download to go for 40 minutes. Other times it will only go for 5 mins. But it always ends exactly the same way.

The end result of this is that, even though I'm able to complete a successful test call, because I haven't completed a successful "daily call" I'm still getting the NAG screens saying that I haven't succesfully completed a call since the ice age. (That's a slight embellishment on my part.)

I'm thinking of taking my tivo over to a friend's house with a regular phone line and using it just to complete the download. I think once I get past the download it won't be that big of a deal. But it would seem that Vonage does not have good enough sound quality for a 28.8 modem to download a DTiVo software update. I'm sure that it's good enough for much shorter calls.

I'm thinking of trying to force the modem to a slower speed to see if I can get it to work. Any other ideas as to what I might try?

The other question I have is will I eventually download the entire update piece by piece, or does the entire software update have to come through in a single phone call?

Originally posted by directivoetherne If you needed to program the modem, how would you do it?

Well, for someone who isn't a hardware geek, I've done a little learning while working on this project. It looks like you could do this:

AT&R1
AT&S0

AT&R1 tells the modem to ignore RTS (which is what the pin 4-5 cross does). AT&S0 tells the modem to override DSR (which is what the pin 6-20 cross does). After you do these, you'll probably want to make it permanant by doing:

AT&W0

If you do all of that, you should be able to use the serial cable available at store.tivo.com.

Originally posted by mjh I'm thinking of trying to force the modem to a slower speed to see if I can get it to work.

As a followup, I forced the modem to a maximum speed of 19200 bps and everything worked. Of course, it was a four hour download to get everything! But it worked. I forced the modem to a maximum speed of 19200 and a minimum speed of 9600 by doing these commands:

Originally posted by mjh Well, for someone who isn't a hardware geek, I've done a little learning while working on this project. It looks like you could do this:

AT&R1
AT&S0

AT&R1 tells the modem to ignore RTS (which is what the pin 4-5 cross does). AT&S0 tells the modem to override DSR (which is what the pin 6-20 cross does). After you do these, you'll probably want to make it permanant by doing:

AT&W0

If you do all of that, you should be able to use the serial cable available at store.tivo.com.

Quote:

Originally posted by mjh As a followup, I forced the modem to a maximum speed of 19200 bps and everything worked. Of course, it was a four hour download to get everything! But it worked. I forced the modem to a maximum speed of 19200 and a minimum speed of 9600 by doing these commands:

AT&N10
AT&U6

Then saved it to NVRAM with:

AT&W0

Please elaborate as to how to go about programing the modem (and reset it when I mess things up) with the above codes. If I wanted to program the modem to work at 9600 bps what codes would I use (the theory being slow and sure is better than fast and undependable)? Also, is there a table of these codes? Many thanks!

The other question I have is will I eventually download the entire update piece by piece, or does the entire software update have to come through in a single phone call?

I am having the same problem you do... I think my record was 25 minutes... Reading about the 3.1.0b problems here it might not be a bad thing that the download fails.... But...

I don't thin the have written that thing smart enough to download bit's and pieces... What is even more annoying is that they would very well have the possibility since Version 3 of the Software to shoot the update down via the SAT instead of using the stoneage phoneline download...

Since I don't have Series 2 I am currently just trying with the build in modem.
Questions:
Does the external modem work on the Series 1 (Hughes) as well?
Did anyone suceed downloading the long .b update through the external modem on Vonage?
Can I do the download with no satellite if I really need to? e.g. take the TiVo to a friends house and hook it up to the phonline there? - Not that I am looking forward to doing that but once the nag screens start...

I just got a 14.4 USR modem from e-bay - I figured 14.4 is probably better than 28.8 - then I don't have to slow it down more...
I hope the ,#319 also works with Series 1 Tivo's...
I'm off to making the cable and the modem should be here towards then end of the week.
I'll report back if/when I get it working...

O.K. As I mentioned before the solution outlined in the origial posting worked for me like a charm, I have not had a dropped call yet. I have run into a small problem however and I was wondering if anybody has an answer to this one. Here it is: My modem auto picks up incoming calls! Whenever a call comes in the modem answers and starts issuing the handshake hiss. Is there a way to disable it? I have a DSR7000 hooked up to a US Robotics 14,4. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!